Food Labels

In the grade 6 health curriculum there is a unit on nutrition. In this unit you are to teach the students about food labels. I found a great site that will teach students about everything they will find on the back of the foods they are eating. The Food Label site, teaches students everything such as, serving size, fat and cholesterol, fiber and nutrients. It explains to the students what each fact means, because children at that age usually don't know about or know to look at the food label on what they are eating. Food labels can't tell the students what foods to eat — that's their decision! But they can help them find foods that taste good and treat their body right.

To apply this website to the classroom, I would have the students read about each of the different items about food labels. I would have them specifically look at the mac and cheese food label on the page. If they scroll their mouse of the label it will give them a description of each one and it will let you know just how healthy things like mac and cheese really are. So for example if they put their mouse on the total fat part of the food label, it would explain how much total fat is in a full serving of mac and cheese. To use this in the class, I will have already taught the students a little about food labels, so they will have some understanding of what they are all about. After the students have read over the site and found out some information, I will then have them take the online exam. I will have the students do it but it wouldn't be for marks, just to practice. I would have the students give me the grade that they got and I would put that mark towards a participation mark. I would then put all the different facts (cholesterol and fiber) on a SmartBoard and have the students come up and put up information about that they learnt about that topic.

This site is a fun way to learn about food labels. Things are flying all over the site to keep the children interested and intrigued. I think the students would like it to do a fun test online not for marks. It takes the pressure off them and it allows them to have fun and enjoy learning about the food labels.